Reward OKd for Leads in Fatal Shooting of Ex-Boxer

The Los Angeles City Council has authorized a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed a retired prizefighter in Eagle Rock last summer, authorities said.

The reward was offered to help investigators find the person who fatally wounded Carlos Chavez, 68, while he was walking home from a pizza parlor and a neighborhood bar that he frequented.

Witnesses told police that an unidentified man shot Chavez once in the chest during an apparent robbery attempt at 9 p.m. Aug. 1 in the 4100 block of Verdugo Road.

At the urging of police, Councilman Richard Alatorre, who represents Eagle Rock, asked the council Friday to approve the reward.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Joe Curreri said investigators hope that the offer will help them develop new leads in the case.

Chavez, nicknamed the Iron Man, was a prominent boxer in Los Angeles during the 1940s and early '50s.

Witnesses told police that they saw Chavez struggling with a younger man moments before he was shot.

Investigators believe that robbery was the motive, but they said Chavez's wallet, containing $14, was found in his pocket.